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Maghua (race)
The Maghua are a race and civilization who have built a Stellar Empire in the Edgeward reaches at the edge of Human exploration, known simply as the Maghua Empire. The humans call their capital, and homeworld, Myco. Physiology The Maghua are best described as a fungoid species, which evolved on Maghua, an irradiated and dangerous world. The Maghua species grew to thrive and dominate in this environment by feeding off this inexhaustible source of energy - radiation, making them known to Human scientists as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus radiotrophic fungi]. They use the pigment melanin to turn gamma and beta radiation into chemical energy. As time went on, the Maghua developed sapience, and this came with an innate understanding of radioactivity and how to manipulate it. Later, this understanding of radiation and the Maghua's culture (which revered life) compelled them to study radiation's effects on the biology and genes of affected cells, creatures, and their offspring, leading to the modern understanding of organic manipulation. For generations, the Maghua were semi-nomadic 'fungal towers' which occasionally would uproot and move to another location, only to settle. Other lifeforms would follow this pattern, as the Maghua had developed a mutually-beneficial relationship with each other and 'lesser' forms of life, providing shelter and nutrients for these creatures. Groups of Maghua 'towers' would come together, their lesser creatures in tow, and form communities, together manipulating not just their environment but the lifeforms in it. The entire biosphere of Maghua works in harmony, effectively domesticated by the Maghua. This is why the planet Maghua and the species Maghua share the same name. However, foreign stellar empires, to avoid confusion, may refer to the planet as Maghu. The humans call it Myco (as in mycology). Biochemistry History Six Manifolds The Six Manifolds, also often called the Six Homeworlds, refers to the six core Maghua colonies. These are the planets which proved most easily converted by the Maghua biosphere. Each one has different Manifold Harmonics. Doctrinal Conflict The Doctrinal Conflict is an ancient ongoing war between different Maghua groups, and is fought over, essentially, the interpretation of the Universe and the Life that resides in it. While mainstream Maghua society believes that all life, of all types, is to be revered and understood and, if possible, learned from, many Maghua came to disagree with this assertion and formed sects to put some weight behind their own understandings of this philosophy. Diplomacy has been tried yet always fails. The conflict is a three-way civil war between the largest sects and the mainstream philosophy. The first sect believes that only life from Maghua is worth anything, and that life which evolved on other worlds can not and should not be learned from or integrated into Maghua biology, and ideally Maghua-based life should assert its dominance over the whole universe and 'replace' other Life. The second, however, thinks similarly, but instead prefers to pursue a policy of isolation from other Life, and focus on making the most of Maghua's potential until the race as a whole transcends into a single-minded consciousness. Essentially, they seek to achieve some level of godhood. The war is largely fought over the Six Manifolds (see above), but occasionally spills over into other Maghua colonies. Life and Society Culture Knowledge Many of the interstellar civilizations throughout galactic history have various motivations for exploring and colonizing space. For the Maghua, it comes down to an insatiable curiosity about alien life, and an endless pursuit of knowledge about these other forms of life so that the Maghua may integrate alien biology into their own. So they explore space, in the hopes of encountering alien species willing to trade with the Maghua collective. In these trade interactions, the Maghua may offer materials, maps, or other data they consider to be superficial, in exchange for genetic samples which the Maghua can analyze. Life and machines To the Maghua, life is the most beautiful and precious creation of the Universe. It has been said, though perhaps somewhat inaccurately, that the Maghua worship Life - all life in the Universe, no matter whether it is sapient, advanced life or simple microbes. The single most important moral imperative is to preserve, protect, and learn from other lifeforms. They believe that eventually, should all life in the Universe come to cooperate and work in harmony as those on Maghua have learned to do, the possibilities would be endless. All life has something to offer the Maghua: a new genome equals a new lesson learned, a new advantage the Maghua can replicate. Artificial intelligences such as Anthrosons are obscenities in the Maghua's collective culture. To give an inanimate object a semblance of Life is simply an unthinkable abomination. Only Life created by the Universe should have a consciousness. This in some ways alienates the Maghua from other races in the galaxy which they encounter, all of whom make extensive use of AI to varying degrees, as well as advanced machinery. The Maghua have been forced to tolerate this atrocity, this affront to their ways, in order to promote their primary objective of meeting other lifeforms and studying them. Other races might see the Maghua method of simply creating new lifeforms to do a task or provide assistance as a machine would as a form of slavery of a living thing. To some, this is morally wrong, but this sentiment is rarely acted upon. Technology The Maghua are a very advanced race, who have a mastery of 'organic manipulation' technology. Their understanding of biology far surpasses that of any other known civilization. One example of this expertise is their creation of the Talking Pets.